Return Of The Book Recommendation Thread!

[David Lewis]

It's coming up to Christmas, and I'm wondering which new books to either purchase for others or put on my own Christmas list, so please tell us some ideas of your own. Two from me
Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman: See the thread of the same name for people's opinions, including mine,
Resident Evil, The Umbrella Conspiracy - S.D. Perry: A paperback novelization of the first resident evil game. As someone who loves the idea and storyline of the Resident Evil series, but who quite bluntly blows at that kind of gameplay, the Resident Evil series always held a particular kind of frustration for me, in that i was always intrigued by them but found them to difficult to play. So when I saw a novelization of the series in my local book shop, I brought into it pretty quickly, and I'm glad I did. Whilst these aren't incredibly good I found them competent at least, and for the most part very enjoyable, The first in particular. I love the dynamic between the S.T.A.R.S team, and way thing seem to so legitimately spiral out of control, as well as the sense of isolation and helplessness she conveys in the team. And the characterization as well, such as the brilliant and capable Captain Wesker's slowly escalating egomania and sinister agenda, and Barry's agonizing choice between his family and his friends, plus a lot of Jill's back story, particularly about the two girls who befriended her when she moved into Raccoon and how she now feels driven to avenge their murders by the supposed, 'cannibal cult'.
There are roughly Seven books in the series so far (including some original stories using the game characters, most often Rebbecca Chambers), with more apparently on the way. I'm personally looking forward to seeing if she does Resi4, the one game in the series I could actually play.
So what kind of books do you recommend?

[Elsa Bibat]

I've been reading and rereading Wen Spencer's A Brother's Price. It's essentially a historical romance where the female to male ratio is 16 to 1. Not exactly great literature but aa fairly enjoyable read for me.

[katreus]

Slow River by Nicola Griffith - Sort of sci-fi-ish (somewhere in the indeterminate future but on Earth) mystery of the who I am variety. I like the story a lot but I'm really amazed at the structure of the story. In terms of being able to integrate past memories and the present, I think she's done it the most smoothly that I've ever read before.

[jpub]

Is you liked Soon I Will Be Invincible, I highly recommend From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain, by Minister Faust.
--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

[ECSNorway]

Pulpy Stuff.
The Rogue Angel series by Alex Archer. The star, Annja Creed, is a young archaeologist who works on a History-Channel-Type science-porn show; has a rival presenter who is liked more for her skimpy clothes and large breasts than her personality or archaeological skills; and just happens to be the reincarnation of Joan of Arc. She gets into all kinds of trouble with weird archaeological/mystical mystery/action/conspiracy fu. It's a modern, 2000's, internet-savvy Indiana Jones sort of thing.
Almost Fenspace-like.
Hmmmmm.
--
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Murmur the Fallen]

Then you might like to try Perfect Dark: Initial Vector and Perfect Dark: Second Front, both by Greg Rucka.
Beyond the fact that Greg Rucka is a great writer, period, he is also a great "thriller" writer. It's taut, tight, and filled with insights.
These books apparently take place after the game Perfect Dark Zero and follows Joanna Dark in her quest for revenge against the corporation that killed her father.
Joanna Dark and Greg Rucka make for a great combination. If you know anything about Rucka, you know that he loves to write about damaged female protagonists, especially those with father issues, and Joanna fills that role to a T.
Great Books.
-murmur

[katreus]

Speaking of zombies and contagion, try World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Do NOT read it at night is my own suggestion; I got freaked out when I did that. It's written as a report that interviews several survivors about their encounters with zombies in first-person accounts and chronicles from the beginning, when it was just being whispered about, to a full scale world wide infestation. Hard to put down, chilling scenes - esp. as regards choices, and surprisingly realistic in spite of the fantastical premise.
Edit: Murmur, have you ever tried Beyond Good and Evil (game)?--

[ECSNorway]

Doyle & MacDonald's Land of Ice and Snow.
In an almost-Lovecraftian world, practitioners of the mystic arts lend their aid to both sides of the American Civil War.
And Union Navy Lieutenant John Nevis has just been posted to the USS Nicodemus, a mysterious ship constructed in a single night at the top of the world...--
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Rev Dark]

If you want a real treat, pick up the audio version of World War Z - they did it as a radio play and the cast rocks hard - running the gambit from Alan Alda the Henry Rollins. The book has a lot more material; but the audio version really puts a human face to the fear.
Shayne

[Bob Schroeck]

---

running the gambit

---

I think you might mean "running the gamut".

-- Bob
---------
I intend to be a freak for the rest of my life, and I shall baffle you with cabbages and rhinoceroses in the kitchen and incessant quotations from Now We Are Six through the mouthpiece of Lord Snooty's giant poisoned electric head. So theeeeeere....

[Rev Dark]

Yes.
I was considering running the gamete, gamet, and gelignite too.
Shayne

[Ebony]

---

I was considering running the gamete, gamet, and gelignite too.

---

Not "gimlet"? Ebony the Black Dragon
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Murmur the Fallen]

Edit: Murmur, have you ever tried Beyond Good and Evil (game)?
No, sorry. Haven't even played Perfect Dark. Did play GoldenEye once upon a time and I do know that Perfect Dark grew out of it . . .
Anyway, getting away from the licensed books, there's Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon. It's a Hard Crime novel set in a Science Fiction world. First part of the Takeshi Kovacs series, it stars Kovacs as an ex-UN soldier that wakes up in future San Fransisco in a body that's not his trying to solve a crime that may not have happened.
Dark, hard-hitting, and filled with Morgan's contempt for the upper-class ruling everyone and the lower-class letting them.
Also funny.
-Murmur

[VladimirTherin]

Jim Butcher has not written a book I regret taking the time to read yet.
Not great literature, but good brain-crack.
His two series are:
Harry Dresden, the only Wizard in the yellow pages for Chicago
Furies of Calderon, a series about an alternate/displaced Rome that has to contend with such things as zerg-like monstrosities and the 3 meter tall bear-men to the south.

[Ankhani]

If you haven't already, take up Isaac Asimov's Robot Series, which sneaks quite well into the Foundation series.
--Robot Series:
Caves of Steel
The Naked Sun
Robots of Dawn
Robots and Empire
--Foundation Series:
Foundation
Foundation and Empire
Second Foundation
Foundation's Edge
Foundation and Earth
The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."
-Analects Book V, Chaper XXVI
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

[ECSNorway]

There are in fact more to the Foundation/Robot series than that, actually... the Wikipedia Article on the series has a recommended reading list. A lot of Asimov's stories get tied neatly together in that universe eventually.
However, the ones Ankhani has recommended are the core, and perhaps the best, of it. I'll just add the Empire series
The Stars, Like Dust
The Currents of Space
Pebble in the Sky
to be read in between the Robots and Foundation series. Very good books and a great look at the history of the Galactic Empire.--
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[kentmagus]

I espy a chance to convert someone to the Shadow! Try the novels about the Shadow.Only the ones by Walter Gibson, the ones by Theodore Tinsley and Bruce Elliott are horrible. Those by Gibson are the best books I've ever read.
If you need a second choice after that, the One Foot in the Grave series by Wm. Mark Simmons is interesting.
I reiterate any Shadow novel by Gibson is a far better first choice.

[jpub]

For non-fiction, I can't say enough nice things about:
A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bil Bryson.
The Universe in a Nutshell, by Stephen Hawking
*anything*ever*written* by James Burke.
I'd skip Hyperspace by Michio Kaku. She's too damn pretentious.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"